LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1183, 19 July 1911, Page 8

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

A NOTE OF WARNING. Sir,-November, mil, will be tho ere of .mother general election. Members are now on tho stump giving an account ot their stewardship, and many will no doubt be weighed in the balance and louiid wanting. The Prohibition party and Anh-Uimbling League will a» usual be trotting out their two bobby hordes, nonunion Prohibition" and "Abolition of Ilorseracing, and will be fighting looth and nail to get their two pet fads made Jnn\ Should the.v succeed iu doin« sa, it is hard to say whero they intend to stop. Politics is only a secondary consideration with these people. All thev want is to return members who will pander to their selfish ends. Indifference on tho people s part has allowed them to get the turn edge of the wedge in, and it is in the people's power this election whether they will let them drive the wedge, homo or not. Should the general public be so indifferent as to their future welfare and let this party rule New Zealand, they will richly deserve all the faddists have in store for them. Regrets too late will be useless. Now is the time for action. Ihe chance to throw out the Ward Government for good has come. \nv elector who heard Mr. Massey in Wellington or read lus speech in the papers must agree that lie made public a broad and progressive policy, and there are happier times in New Zealand under a change of Government. Electors, wake up for once '".your life out of your deep sleep. Away with members whose onlv aim is the honorarium ; throw off the yoke now and forever.—l am, etc., F. BAKNETT. MR. M'LAREN.

Sir,—"Was dat a bee wot stung?" savs ono nigger to another. "Nup, I jis 4t on one o* dem tacks." The humour "of this , will strike "Dismal David" about the mil die of next week. The member tor U ellington Last is still wondering where he was struck. He has blown off tiko a Rotoriia geyser. But—he has forgotten to answer the questions I put to him. I am not blaming him for beiii" angry But he ought to be angrv with himself—not witli me. You see, when he that audience tho other night that Mr.. Wright and Mr. Fisher had voted against their election pledges, ho completely forgot that he had omitted to vote himself. And, of course, forgot to tell bis audience that on tho most important question of the session—a noconfidence motion, he didn't put in an appearance. He had some "other public business," ho now tells us. Who can tell that if elected ■ again Mr. M'Laren might not have "some other public business" when a no-confidence motion comes along? Even now nobody knows how he would have voted had he been there. Into what deep hole has "Dismal David" stumbled? He says he has known Mr. .l'ishor to bo sitting on four committees all at once. I am obliged for the compliment. But if he- (Mr. M'Laren) could do half as well he would have been able to be in at least two places at once, and so could have voted on that embarrassing no-confidence motion, Q.E.D. As ho evidently could not be in even two places at once, and I am capable (so he says) of being in four, the sum is simple—as "Dismal David" is to 25, so is Fisher to 100. Again Q.E.D. And does Mr. M'Laren really object to Mr. Fisher talking when the galleries are full? My Dismal friend never does it. Of course not. But the fault is not his. As soon as he gets up the galleries empty as if by magic, tho Speaker goes to sleep, tho quorum bell is requisitioned, and the crowd in the lobby becomes suffocating. He never speaks when tho galleries are, full, oh dear no! Why he should raise theso points I cannot understand. If lie will go looking for trouble, well, it's easily found by making mis-statements. I shall keep putting him right whenever possible. But' really he should not get angry. He upset the bricks, not mo. If they "have fallen on his toes lie has only himself to blame. Just let him give up that dreary, deplorable droning. Bo bright, bo cheery, be optimistic. Stick to his colleagues, and when' .he cannot do that, stick to facts. By tho by, did I ask him howdid ho vote on tho no-confidence motion? Did T ask him that before? Of course, yes, I remember now, he was amongst the missing, wasn't he? Did he tell his audience about it? Oh, no, of course not —he forgot. How would ho have voted? What, offended? Have I raised an unpleasant topic? Sorry. If clected again, will he vote for the Government or against the Government, or will lie bo absent as ho was last session, and endeavour to conceal the fact from his electors? Have I hurt his feelings? I'm sorry. I thought he would like his electors to know exactly what goes on, and I knew he. had forgotten something. Thought I'd remind him. Thafs all.—l am, etc.,

P. M. B. FISHER, July 15, 1911. P.S.—I seo that Mr. H'Laren says that bo missed that division because the Government' Whip didn't let him know. So ho, Now wo know where we are. So he is under the whip, too. I always suspected it, but never hoped ho would be so indiscreet as to admit it. F.M.B.F. ' AN OBJECT LESSON. Sir,—Tho New Zealand Government is bringing down regulations to prevent the overcrowding' of tramways by the municipalities. Tho samo New Zealand Government is not over-careful aoout the way it treats tho Stato railway passengers. An example of this was given on Saturday night. On the last train from Trenthaiii races people crowded and swarmed on to the platforms in defiance of warning notices, and there was standing room only in tho carriages. A lot of people were carried in covered wagons, and live of tho carriages in which the people swarmed like bees—and exchanged flasks and uncomplimentary remarks about things in general—were unlit. Tho train ran late, and was held up for some time before it was allowed to run into the Wellington station, and there was much groaning and gnashing of teeth. There was, I am glad to say, one carriage which was .neither overcrowded nor unlit. It lioro the black and white label "Reserved"! niid contained the Honourable Sir James Carroll, K.C.M.G.', Acting-Prime Minister, and a select party. "Of course you can never be like us! —I am, etc., PETER SIMPLE.